Knights of the Stars
by PikasPuma
Summary: The Galactic Wars are in full swing- and new warriors must rise to the challenge to fight off the monsters from eNeMeE! But only the bravest and brightest can enroll to become a Galaxy Knight- can Kirby?
1. Monsters Do Exist

Far away in a galaxy, on a round planet, on a round continent, was the round town of round people. And like its citizens, the town itself was round- round houses, buildings, foliage, food. The people of the town were always full of energy- children ran around playing games, mammas cleaned, sang and chatted away, papas happily busy.

One night, something extraordinary happened to a pair of the town's residents. A wind stirred the round leaves of the trees circling the round house, and they woke up to hear something strange. They opened the round little door to find a round bundle on their round doormat.

"It's a baby!" they told each other.

"Where did it come from?" the wife wondered.

"Why is it on our doorstep?" the husband pondered.

"Isn't this how babies are delivered to families?" she thought, picking up the little bundle. "That must mean we're Mama and Papa now."

The round baby was pink with little round hands and feet. They named the boy Kirk- Kirk Kirios- and like all the other kids, he was eating before he learned to speak, and running around before he could understand what 'Stop, Kirk!' meant. When his birthday came, he understood only a handful of words- the rest was baby talk.

"Happy Birthday, Kirk!" his Mama and Papa said as they set a round cake down in front of their little pink boy. He bounced with cheerful glee as his papa struck a match and lit a candle on the cake.

"Blow it out, Kirk."

"But don't forget to make a wish!" his mama added. Their son laughed and puffed his cheeks before blowing the candle out.

A gust of wind tore through Mama's curtains, as if the wind wanted to steal Kirk's first birthday wish- but soon the wind was gone.

"Strange weather, huh, Papa?" Mama thought, turning to see Kirk sliding the cake into his mouth.

"I thought I heard something hit the door, Mama," Papa replied.

 _"Poyo-poyo,"_ Kirk babbled, bouncing in his seat. All three Kirios- Papa, Mama and Kirk, approached the door, and opened it slowly.

On the doorstep was a small bundle, blinking its gray-blue eyes sleepily. All of them put a hand on their cheek.

"A baby?" Mama wondered.

"Just like Kirk," Papa thought.

"Kirk-by!" Kirk exclaimed. "Kirk-by, Kirk-by!" Mama picked up the baby, yep, pink and round, just like Kirk, only a baby.

"Papa, he looks just like Kirk," she said, showing him the baby. Kirk bounced around, "Kirk-by, Kirk-by- _poyo!"_

"You're right, it's like baby Kirk all over again."

"Kirk _by, poyoyo!"_

"Kirk seems to like the idea of a little brother. But Kirkby doesn't really sound right, Papa."

 _"Kirby poyo!"_ Kirk proclaimed, bouncing to reach the little bundle. "Kirby Kirby poyo!"

"Maybe this is what Kirk wished for!" Mama wondered. "A baby Kirk."

"I think he's wants to name him Kirby, Mama," Papa laughed.

"Kirby... I like that name!"

"Kirby it is, then!" Papa proclaimed.

 _"Kirby Kirby!"_

* * *

"Kirk, it's the ice cream man!" Kirk dropped the truck he was playing with and ran after the other boys- leaving little pink Kirby in the dust.

"Hey! Wait for me!" he cried, puffing after them. Even though he was only a year younger than Kirk, Kirby was a shrimp compared to the other little brothers- he could hardly do anything with Kirk and his friends. Huffing, he finally reached the cluster of round boys and girls- purple, blue, lime, magenta, where was pink Kirk? He jumped up and down to see where Kirk was- "Kirk! Where are you?"

Kirk was at the front, holding out some round coins- "I'll have a scoop of salted caramel, Mr. Pop," he ordered. The other kids were bouncing up and down and crying out orders, but Mr. Pop was pretty old, and he could only move very slowly.

"Salted caramel... what about your little brother... Kir-um, what was his name again?" he managed.

Kirk looked around but was being pushed and shoved towards the front, he couldn't see Kirby way in the back, bouncing and shouting. He paid for his candy and managed to get out of the horde-

"Kirk! You didn't wait for me!" Kirby puffed, gray-blue eyes drooping.

"Sorry, Kirby," Kirk hummed as he licked his caramel ice cream. "I thought you didn't want ice cream."

Kirby's eyes burned with red frustration. "I _always_ want ice cream, Kirk!"

"Why weren't you behind me, then?"

"I _was!_ I was behind you- didn't you hear me shouting?"

"If you were behind me, what happened?" He licked his caramel ice cream and started to walk back home, Kirby jumping and running after him.

 _"Kiiirk! Waaait!"_ he whined.

The two pink boys waddled home, Kirk eating the cone as he walked inside the door. "Mama, Papa, we're home!"

"Welcome home, Kirk, Kirby," Mama greeted from the kitchen. But Papa didn't join in with her greeting- he was reading a newspaper, but even then-

"Papa, what's wrong? Aren't you going to welcome us home?"

Papa set the paper down, humming- and not the good kind of hum either. "It looks like another section of the galaxy has been taken by NME. Whole planets have been ravaged by monsters."

Kirk and Kirby exchanged a glance- why was Papa using such big words? And talking about monsters?

"Papa?" Mama asked, walking over to the table. "Um... the children have come home, dear."

"Hmm?" he looked up. "Oh. Hello Kirk, Kirby. Welcome home."

Kirk gulped and asked, "Papa, what were you reading about?"

Kirby cowered behind Kirk and whimpered, "You were talking about monsters!"

"Monsters don't exist," Kirk assured his little brother..."Right, Papa?"

Papa flinched, but stammered, "That-that's right, Kirk! Monsters don't exist."

"There, there, Kirby!" Mama laughed- a little too loud- "There's nothing to be afraid of. Come on, let's eat!"

"Hey...Kirk?" Kirby whispered from his bed. "Do...do monsters exist?"

Kirk pretended to wake up for his little brother- he'd been trying not to think about it since Papa read off the newspaper... Monsters didn't exist- monsters were just made up to scare little kids like Kirby, to keep them from being bad, right? But why would Papa be reading about made-up things in a newspaper? And what was NME?

"Kirk? Are you awake?"

"Wha-wha? What's that?" Kirk turned over to see little gray eyes staring at him. "Monsters... they don't exist, Kirby. Go back to sleep."

"O-okay, Kirk. Goodnight.."

Monsters don't exist. Dad was just messing with them. Monsters don't exist. Monsters don't exist...

* * *

"Another planet was taken by monsters!" the newsboy cried out as he ran across the village. "The Manmaru council's being visited by members of the Galaxy Soldier Army right now!"

Years after reassuring himself that monsters didn't exist, Kirk nearly spat out his roast ham- nearly. He swallowed the meat and spat out the bone. Monsters! So they were real- and not just a rumor after all. He'd been hearing about the fighting, but he'd assumed-

"Kirk, they're real!" his friends cried out- they'd been having lunch together, even little Kirby was inside the picnic basket, eating candy. "Monsters and nightmares are real!"

"Well, of course nightmares are real-" Kirk puffed, "but monsters? And what's the Galacta...Galactic..."

"It's the army fighting the monsters," another friend chimed in. "My pa says that as long as you stay out of the way of either of them, you won't have to see a monster."

Kirby poked his pink head out of the picnic basket, mouth bordered with cream. "But don't monsters go after everyone?"

Kirk's friend held his head high- "My pa says that as long as you stay as far away from the Galaxy Soldier Army as possible, they don't bother you."

"That sounds cowardly," Kirk grumbled, rocking to his feet. "I'm not afraid of monsters like your pa is. I'm going to go join that Galaxy Army and fight monsters- and stop 'em once and for all!" He started marching down towards his house- Kirby bouncing out of the basket and running after him. "Kirk, wait for me! I wanna fight monsters too!"


	2. The Galactic Soldier Army School

"What? You want to join the Galaxy Soldier Army?" Papa Kirios echoed his sons' request. Mama dropped something and ran over to her two boys fast and shook all over.

 _"Whaaat?!"_ she shrieked. "Nonono-you don't understand! The army fights _real, actual, gigantic monsters all over the galaxy!_ It isn't a game, boys!"

"But we wanna help!" Kirby bounced, eyes bright with resolve. "We wanna help the good guys win."

"And I wanna fight monsters," Kirk grumbled. "Please Mama-"

"You two are too young to join the army!" she cried out, shaking her head. "Even if I let you go enroll- they'll turn you down."

Papa put a hand on Mama, "Mama, it's all right. Let me handle this, please."

She sniffled, "But if you handle it, you'll get them killed."

"No I won't, I promise, Mama." She hummed but then nodded as she rubbed her eyes. Papa pushed up his glasses and stared at his two boys. He put on a straight face and put his hands on his sides.

"So you two really want to join the Galaxy Soldier Army and help them fight monsters? Are you both absolutely sure about this?"

Kirk puffed his chest and a fire sparked in his green eyes-he nodded. Kirby clenched his nubby hands into little fists- eyes still brilliant with his willpower.

Papa nodded, then, "You may be too young to join the army- but I know that there's a special place for little kids like you to train to become soldiers that can fight the monsters. It's an academy on another planet- away from the fighting that's going on elsewhere."

"Sounds like school," Kirk grumbled- was this one of Papa's tricks to get him to be smarter? They worked on Kirby, but-

"It may sound like a school- but it's a school that teaches you how to fight monsters. You'll learn how to defeat monsters and survive the fighting- things you two would need to know if you want to go fight them.

"It'd take a while for you to get to fight monsters, but by the time you get to them you'll be able to beat them. Does that sound like something you two want to do?"

Kirby bounced, "It sounds great, Papa- how do we get there?" Papa waddled over to the table and sat down- Kirby hopped onto the table and sat next to him. Kirk hesitated. but joined them. _It might be the only chance I have at fighting monsters..._

"I'm sure we can fill out an enrollment form that we can get at the post office," Papa answered. "When that happens, someone will answer and then they'll come and take you to the school."

"Let's go get those forms!" Kirby exclaimed, rosy cheeked and re-energized. He bounced around the door while Papa waddled over to the door.

"Kirk, are you coming with us? We'll be filling out forms and sending them from the post office- don't you want to come?"

Kirk hummed it over and then followed his Papa and little brother. If it was a school for fighting monsters, it couldn't be so bad, right? Eventually he'd be able to fight monsters, right?

* * *

The Kirios brothers were playing with the other children four days after Papa filled out the enrollment request at the Interstellar Post Office. "Have you still not heard from them, Kirk?" one of his friends asked as they played Go Fish.

"The Galaxy Army doesn't have time for little kids like Kirby, but they haven't told you anything yet?"

"I'm not little!" Kirby protested, bouncing next to the stack of "pond" cards, which were almost half his size. "I can go to school with Kirk, too! I'm just a year younger-"

"Not yet- Papa said the post office takes a while to get to all the regions of the galaxy and back again. They probably got it...yesterday. If they got it, it might take awhile for them to write a response or send someone here...It's your turn, Mari."

"But why would you want to go to a school, Kirk? It's boring and you won't get to fight monsters like that."

"Of course we won't fight monsters there! We'll learn _how_ to fight monsters."

 _"You_ won't learn anything, Kirby- you're too puny to fight monsters."

"You're so small that you have to jump on top of things to see anything."

"That's not true! I'll get bigger like Kirk, and you'll see!" He stood on top of the card deck and puffed himself up. "I'll be big and strong like my big brother, and we'll fight monsters together."

"So you two must be the Kirios Brothers, Kirk and Kirby," a grown-up said- shadowing over the group of children. He was bigger and less round than anyone else in the village, and he was wearing a suit of gray armor. The other children shivered at the big, bulky person before him- he rose a gloved hand as if to stop them- like some of the adults did to keep them from running into the street.

"Don't be afraid," he assured. "My name is Sir Zankibble. I'm a Star Warrior from the Galaxy Soldier Army."

Kirk rocked onto his heels. "So you're from the school?"

"Are you here to take us there?" Kirby asked, hopping off of the card stack. Sir Zankibble chuckled a little.

"I see you two are very eager to see the academy. We soldiers are supremely proud of the facility, as humble as it may seem. But I can't take you there just yet; I have to speak with your mother and father first- where might I find them?"

* * *

"What can you tell us about the Galactic Soldier Academy, Sir Zankibble?" Mama Kirios asked the Star Warrior at the table. Kirk and Kirby sat on the floor, listening to the grown-ups talk.

"Kirk and Kirby must be something special if the Army sent one of their Star Warriors here," Papa laughed.

Sir Zankibble looked at his hands in front of him. "I wish that were true- though it very well may be, for all I know. I haven't had my graduation ceremony, so I'm not _part_ of the army, officially. Since I don't belong in a regiment yet and I have no further work to do at the school, I was assigned to come see them."

"So have they been accepted by the school?" Mama asked.

"Most likely. Sadly, only a small percent of the galaxy believes in the cause of the Star Warriors and Galaxy Soldiers- many planets see affiliation with such a group as targets for eNeMeE and monsters. They firmly believe they will be left alone if they wash their hands of the Galaxy Army altogether."

"But what eNeMeE is doing is wrong!" Papa protested. "Can't they see that?"

"The truth of the matter is, as long as _they_ are not the ones being attacked by NightMare, they are more than willing to look the other way, Mr. Kirios."

"The boys won't be in any danger if they're at the school, will they?" Mama asked, holding a hand to her cheek.

"The academy is in a de-militarized safe zone in the galaxy, ma'am. Several soldiers will also be present there as well- there is no need to worry about them."

Mama and Papa looked at their two boys, a swirl of emotions in their eyes. Mama walked away from the table and in front of her two sons, teary eyed.

"Kirk...Kirby... you'd better pack your things. We don't want to keep Sir Zankibble waiting, do we?"

* * *

"Mama!" Kirby cried out as he hugged her one last time. "Mama, Papa, I'll miss you!" Kirk watched his parents hug his little brother one last time.

"We'll miss you, too, Kirby," they said, rubbing his pink head and wiping the tears from his gray-blue eyes.

"Chin up- be sure to study hard, and listen to whatever the teachers say."

"Being a good fighter is one thing, but being a good study is a bigger thing, Kirby."

"Good luck, boys! Be safe!"

The Kirios brothers climbed into Sir Zankibble's spaceship, in awe of the flashing buttons and levers- so tempting to touch!

"Did you fly this ship all by yourself, Sir Zankibble?" Kirk wondered, sitting down. The Star Warrior closed the doors of the craft and instructed the boys to strap in.

"It's something all Galaxy Soldiers learn at the academy. Hold on tight- this trip will be over before you know it!"

The ship lifted into the air before zipping off into the horizon- a twinkling light in the blue sky.


End file.
